Forgot Atripla on vacation

Sep 30, 2012

Over labor day weekend, I left for a week's vacation and realized that I grabbed a bottle of Atripla with only 3 pills in it. Been pos since 2006 and have always been strict about taking my meds (forgot to take it maybe 7 or 8 times over the last 6 years). I was on vacation in a very rural area and with the holiday weekend, getting a trusted friend into my house in another state to express mail or get a temp scrip filled from my Dr., would have meant maybe arrival at end of week. Not to mention coming up with cover stories for my family about the delivery or finding a PRX that would have Atripla. Wondering if I made a poor decision to skip a night between doses to stretch out the 3 pills, with last dose on Thurs. before returning home on Sunday evening and getting back on my nightly dosage schedule. I know the cardinal rule about skipping doses, but didn't know what else to do. Last test in November 2011, I was undetecable, good % (sorry forgot what it was) and count was close to 400 and very healthy otherwise. Waiting for my annual test and very worried about the lapses in doses that week. Since this test is so close to the week with several misses, when will I know if I am risk for drug resistance and the odds of it happening?

Response from Dr. Holodniy

You are likely going to be OK, given the amount of time you remained undetectable before this incident. It's hard to predict whether you dodged a bullet or not. I think you just need to get your viral load rechecked. If it remains undetectable then you'll have your answer.

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